This invention relates to golf practice devices and more specifically to a golf swing training system.
The most important aspect of becoming a good golfer is consistency. Aspiring golfers will swing their clubs many times in order to develop a smooth, consistent swing. Notwithstanding, there are many erroneous ways or moreover, swing defects, that a practicing golfer may commit during his or her practice session. These swing defects are undesirable, and worse, the exact nature of the swing defect is not easily ascertainable.
There are several common types of swing defects that can work together in combination to cause bad shots. Conversely, the essence of a golfer""s practice session is to minimize these defects on a consistent basis. There are several different defects in a person""s swing that can result in the ball taking a bad path. A slice or hook occurs due to misalignment of the clubface relative to the swing direction. In other words, the clubface is not perpendicular to the intended flight path when contact is made with the golf ball. The result is that the ball initially proceeds to its intended target but due to a side rotational spin imparted by the misaligned clubface, begins to veer sideways. Also, a ball that does not make contact in the middle or xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d of the club head is known as an off-center defect. This again causes a slice or hook due to the weight of the ball at impact forcing the clubface out of alignment. Club lie is defined as the measure to how closely the bottom surface of the club head is maintained parallel to the surface of the ground. This defect, similar to the aforementioned defects can cause a side spin to be imparted to the golf ball, resulting in the shot veering off to the right or left of the target based upon the spin direction.
As described, several independent types of swing defects results in the same flight path of a golf ball. Therefore, analyzing one""s swing defects cannot be ascertained by observing the flight path of the ball alone. In addition, one""s swing problems cannot be totally determined by using a tool, which is only capable of measuring one type of swing defect.
During a typical practice swing, the club head will gain speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour. At these speeds, real time visual analysis of how contact is made with the ball is virtually impossible. Moreover, very slight variations in the position and orientation of the clubface during impact with the ball usually results in a large error in the resulting shot. The normal human eye does not have the capability of assessing the exact position and orientation of the clubface during impact at these speeds.
There are several conventional devices, which attempt to address this problem. One device has a writing pen mounted inside of a specially made golf club head, which leaves a mark on a sheet of paper in an attempt to give some indication of the swing. However, since the weight, length, and overall structure of this specially made golf club is different for each user, this device must be customized for each user. In addition, yet another set of clubs are required for actually playing the game of golf, which tends to be expensive.
Another approach uses a pendulum mounted golf ball mounted on a platform, so that when the golf ball is struck, the pendulum is forced onto an impact surface, which contains a flexible imaging-type material. This device is able to determine the spin imparted onto the ball during impact, however it is unable to determine the type of swing defect, which caused the spin. Also, since the golf ball in mounted on a pendulum, the user can never use this device to observe the actual flight of the golf ball and thereby correlate the flight of the golf ball to any swing defects he or she may have committed.
In another case, a lie determining device is used to show lie imperfections when the club head makes contact with the ball. This requires a specially constructed ball that could easily be lost when used on an open driving range, necessitating the need for expendable, inexpensive balls.
A strip of tape attached to the face of a golf club is used as a golf club impact recording system in another approach. This device tends to wear out after only a few swings and has to be replaced and only provides feedback on only 1 type of possible golf swing anomalies, namely an off-center defect.
Finally, a Velcro pad mounted onto the face of a golf club head has been used with a specially constructed golf ball, which also contains a Velcro surface, to determine what area of the ball the club impacts. But this device cannot be used on a real golf ball and therefore this device cannot be used during actual golf practice.
What is needed is a golf swing practice tool that can record several swing defects, such as incorrect club lie, clubface misalignment, off-center shots, and any combination of these, using real golf clubs and balls in a actual practice environment, which through extended practice and correction will automatically translate to a game of golf. The present disclosed invention describes several embodiments for meeting this need.
A number of patents may be of interest in relation to the technology discussed above and in this disclosure, including but limited to the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,064 to Cerami, [Golfers"" Swing Tracing Training Aid],
U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,427 to Doane, [Golf Training Device],
U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,530 to Butler, [Dynamic Lie Determination Device and Method],
U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,309 to Lee, [Golf Training Device], and
U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,309, [Golf Club Impact Recording System].
The present invention discloses a golf-training system comprising a marking material mounted within the swing path of a golf club for the purpose of placing a removable ink or wax mark on the face of a club head whereby a user may determine many of the more common swing defects with each practice swing. This system can be used for recording several swing defect types with each practice stroke, such as incorrect club lie, clubface misalignment relative to swing direction, off-center shots, direction of clubhead in relation to the intended direction of the golfball, and/or any combination of these aforementioned swing defects, providing accurate and concise information on all the aforementioned types of swing defects with each stroke.
The present invention results in a patterned mark or indicia created on the clubface of a golf club during a swing. The system comprises a marking material, which is mounted on a specified convex surface of a rubber golf tee or conventional golf tee, which is positioned within the swing path of a golf club. The geometrical shape of the specified convex surface in conjunction with the marking material is such that a unique marking pattern is created on the clubface indicative of the type of swing defect committed.
The disclosed indicia producing mechanism can be used with any type of golf club including irons, woods, or the like. The chemical composition of the ink or pigmented wax would be such that it will not be absorbed into the surface of the clubface and could be easily wiped clean with a rag or paper towel.